Teenage Wasteland
by Patchwork Author
Summary: Skye's about to start her first day of high school at Margaret Carter High School. There, she meets a wide array of fellow weirdos, from resident geniuses, to attractive soccer players, and that weird, handsome, kid from the senator's family. What could possibly go wrong? (Skye featuring everybody. Fitzsimmons. Eventual Skyeward. Some Skyemiles. Philinda Who knows what else)
1. First Day Worst Day?

A/N: Woohoo High school AUs! Where Melinda and Coulson can adopt Skye as a baby, and Ward's family can just be assholes, not psychos AND, I mean, high school. All your favorites and some of your worsts. All in one place, plus added hormones! Let's do it.

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters. All rights go to their proper owners.

"It's okay to be nervous."

Skye looked up from her bowl of Lucky Charms at her dad, who was kept periodically looking up from his newspaper to look at her anxiously. Who even read newspapers anymore? "I'm not nervous."

"Skye, it's really ok-"

"Phil, leave her alone. You'll just _make_ her nervous."

Skye shot a grateful look at her mom before spooning more cereal into her mouth. Just her first day of high school. Any nerves she felt, she could deal with. Phil looked a little disgruntled to be dismissed but went back to reading his paper. "Why do they make the print so tiny?" he whined.

Melinda sighed. "Phil."

He looked up again, just in time for her to hand him his glasses. Melinda was looking at him like she couldn't believe she married such an idiot.

"Yeah, I'm just gonna take myself to school..." Skye said, smiling at her dad a little. Phil looked a little too offended before he realized she was joking. "Can we go? I don't really wanna be late on my first day."

The switch from public middle school to a private high school wasn't too drastic, per say, but it still made Skye a little nervous. Especially since she was like, ninety percent sure she got in because her dad was friends with the Headmaster. Her dad was friends with everyone.

* * *

Of course, Skye should've realized that her dad wasn't just going to drop her off. He was going to drop her off in Lola, because he wanted everyone to be staring.

"Tomorrow, mom's taking me!" Skye hissed. Phil sighed, leaning forward to kiss her forehead.

"Come on. I'm a cool dad. This is cool. You're making an entrance!" he said. He let her go then, smiling proudly. "Have fun, be nice, and I put pepper spray in your bag just in case!"

Skye stared at him for a second. "The fuck kind of school are you sending me to?"

He said something about language but Skye was already out of the car and closing the door. She waved once more before he pulled away. She looked at the big double doors then, taking a deep breath. They were propped open, thank god, because Skye didn't have her ID yet and being locked out on her first day was not how she wanted to start this ordeal.

See, the thing about High School is that it's supposed to be where _all_ Freshman are the 'new kids'. Not all private schools were like that. Margaret Carter High School wasn't like that. It ran from Kindergarten to 12th grade, so some of these kids had known each other since they were picking their noses. Sure, Skye was one of like twenty six new kids, but still. New Kid. Not fun.

Skye signed in, got her classlist, and met her homeroom teacher. The homeroom was small, only twelve kids. Skye found an empty seat and pulled out her laptop.

That was when she was approached by two people standing so close together, Skye thought they were attached for a moment.

"Uh. Hi."

"You must be new. It's so nice to meet you!" the girl said brightly. British. Okay. "I'm Jemma Simmons. This is Fitz."

"Most people call us Fitzsimmons but we're not..we're not the same person. As you can see. Obviously." Fitz was Scottish.

"Okay. Skye Coulson. It's nice to meet you too?"

Simmons was looking at her schedule. Skye didn't know these people. She literally knew nothing about them, except their names and generally where they were from. But she still couldn't help but hope they were in one of her classes. A friendly face wouldn't hurt.

"Oh Fitz, look! We have almost the same schedule as Skye!" Simmons smiled. "You have at least one of us in all of your classes except one, and that ones last on Mondays. And you have two free periods. One with us, one without us."

Skye nodded. That was a little more 'Fitzsimmons' than she'd been hoping for, but she'd take it.

"How long have you been going here?" Skye asked curiously.

Fitzsimmons traded a look. "We came in seventh grade," the said in unison.

This was going to be a weird first day.

* * *

Simmons and Skye had P.E. together right before lunch that day, which was kind of the worst. They both hated Phys ed, and Skye could dig that. They changed into the uniforms before walking into the gym.

"I definitely did not see some of these kids at the grade meeting this morning," Skye muttered.

Simmons looked around the room before turning back to Skye with a smile. "Oh! Right, I forgot to mention that Freshmen and Sophomores share Phys Ed. They lump Juniors and Seniors together too."

Great. Being forced to be 'sportsy' in front of even more kids. Just what Skye always wanted.

"Hey Jemma. You've made it to high school at last!" Skye looked up. The boy standing in front of her was clearly an athlete, unlike Skye and Simmons. And looked unfairly pretty. "You're the girl who was dropped off in that wicked car, right?"

Skye nodded. "Yeah. I'm Skye."

The boy nodded. "That's tight. I'm Trip." He said, holding out his hand for her. Skye accepted it. Okay, so he was a nice athlete. Not some toolbag.

"_Antoine Triplett_, actually. Triplett's a sophomore, and he's already set to be captain of the football, I mean soccer, team next year. And quite the charmer, so watch out," Simmons smiled. Trip laughed at that. Skye liked his guy. He seemed like someone she could be cool with.

The coach's whistle blew and they started to migrate over to him. "You any good at dodgeball?" Trip asked.

Skye snorted. "I can run from a ball, sure, but I don't expect me to do any of the throwing or catching bullshit."

Trip seemed to like that answer. The teacher, sure enough, said they'd be starting the year with an inaugural dodgeball game. Great. Trip was made captain of one side and Lance Hunter was captain of the other.

"Trip, pick first."

"Skye."

Skye didn't realize he was talking about her until Simmons nudged her in his direction.

"You picked me first?"

"It's not fun being the new kid. Wasn't gonna have you picked last. Plus, if Simmons likes you, you must be okay."

Skye smiled. That was one of the nicest things anyone had done for her all day. Besides everything Simmons and Fitz did. Lance picked, and then Trip picked Simmons. Oh so he liked to play favorites. All right.

Skye liked this kid. And for the first time in her life, she enjoyed a game of dodgeball.

* * *

"So," Skye started as she and Simmons walked back to the main building for lunch. "Is Trip part of your weird little clique?"

Simmons gave her a weird look. "What?"

"Like, you, Trip and Fitz."

"Oh. No. We don't really have a clique. This is our first day of high school too. I mean, Trip is our friend, absolutely, but he's a tad bit..."

"Cooler?" Skye offered.

Simmons huffed. "If you must use that word, fine. I think Fitz and I are very cool. We're very hip." Skye tried not to laugh at her using 'hip'. "Me more so, but don't tell him I said that. Trip is more 'stereotypically' cool, I suppose."

"Sorry, no, I didn't mean to offend you guys. I think you guys are super cool. But high school is...different," Skye said. Simmons nodded. "You guys do have other friends, though. Like you said, Trip is a friend."

Simmons nodded again, leading Skye down to the cafeteria. Skye grabbed a tray and started looking around for food. "We have other friends yes. I for one, do not believe in cliques, but people do tend to form groups, I suppose. We'll see how it goes. I'm going to the salad bar. I'll meet you by the cash registers, okay?"

Skye nodded and started looking at the different stations. Yeah, private school lunches were definitely a whole different beast than public school. She grabbed a plate of pasta and a drink before pulling out her phone. Two texts from Miles Lydon.

M: _I miss you._

M: _Is it full of pretentious dickwads?_

Skye smiled.

S: _So far? No. You'd hate it though. It's clean, there's no kale and no one's as scruffy as you. _

She wasn't surprised at how quickly Miles texted back.

M: _You didn't say you miss me too. Also, what the fuck do they have against kale? _

Skye rolled her eyes before going to meet Simmons. Miles was her...okay he wasn't really her boyfriend anymore but he wasn't _not_ her boyfriend? He was her person. Her nerdy, hipster, person. Who went to some weird-ass alt school after being homeschooled for like six years. Simmons was waiting for her in line to checkout. Fitz had been nowhere to be seen this whole time.

When they stepped through to the lunch room, Skye was more thankful for Simmons' company than she had been all day. Nothing worse than trying to navigate a cafeteria full of kids that knew each other to find a place to sit. It was the worst of high school. But, if you had friends, it was also the best.

"Oh look! Fitz saved us a table, how nice," Simmons smiled and walked over to him. Skye was quick to follow. Fitz had more food on his tray than either Simmons or Skye. It was actually kind of hilarious, especially because he was so small.

"How was Phys Ed? Did Simmons get hit with a dodgeball?"

Simmons shot him a pointed look. "I...did get his but that is not the point! Skye met Triplett. How was your free period? Did you start working on the project for robotics club?" she asked.

Skye was already a little lost, but in the best way possible. "Are you two super nerds or something?"

"If by super nerds, you mean gifted scientists. We're both in AP chem. Simmons in in AP Bio. Though really, they're useless fields. I'm in AP physics, now that's a beautiful science," Fitz said. Two AP sciences. No wonder Skye had one more free period than both of them.

Simmons looked like she was about to go off on Fitz when Triplett came over, setting his tray on the table and dropping into one of the empty seats. "Did I interrupt a science fight?"

Oh, so this wasn't uncommon. Good to know. "Yes. Thank you for saving me."

Trip laughed. He was an easy laugher, Skye noticed. Simmons and Fitz looked surprised, though happy, that Trip decided to sit with them. Future captain of the soccer team, sitting with two too-cute for words science babies, and one new alt-kid. What kind of high school was this? Nothing like the movies, that was for sure. The three of them dissolved into trying to figure out who Skye had met, who it was important for Skye to meet, and who she should steer clear of.

"So she's met Trip, obviously. What about Bobbi?" Fitz asked.

"Who's Bobbi?" Skye asked, taking a break from blowing bubbles in her chocolate milk.

Simmons stopped what she was doing. "You have to meet Bobbi. Bobbi is the best!"

"Simmons totally has a crush on-"

"Leopold Fitz, I do not have a crush on Bobbi!" Simmons said, hitting him. Okay, so up to that point Skye had been almost positive that Fitzsimmons were dating, but unless they were really open, probably not. Also...Leopold?

"Bobbi Morse is a Junior and she is one of the coolest people in the school. And I don't use that word lightly," Trip said.

Skye traded a look with Simmons, who nodded. She had been here thinking that Bobbi was a boy, but hey, no judgement. And if they all really liked Bobbi, she must be at least pretty decent. Skye noticed something over Simmons' shoulder then. In a crazy crowded cafeteria, there was a boy sitting alone. Which was odd enough on its own, and then there was the fact that he did not look like the kind of boy who should be sitting alone. He was athletic, maybe even more so than Trip, and just a stupidly pretty. Was there was a quota for hot boys at this school?

"Who's that?"

Simmons turned around. "Oh that's Ward. Grant Ward. He is...was a friend of ours," she said.

"His family's important, and tough. He had a rough summer and dropped off the face of the earth. We thought he wasn't coming back to school, to be honest," Trip said. "He's a good guy though."

Skye nodded and turned her attention back to them as they decided whether or not it would be good for her to meet Lance Hunter.

* * *

"How was your first day?"

Skye looked up from her dinner and smiled at her dad. "It was actually okay. Still a little too preppy for my taste but whatever," she said.

Phil seemed happy with that. He'd known how skeptical Skye had been about going to his alma mater. She'd been worrying about not belonging all summer. He'd tried to discourage her from feeling that way, but once Skye put her mind to something, it was hard to change it.

"How are the classes?" Melinda wondered.

"Not so bad. I'm in an advanced computer sciences. I mean, it's advanced for Freshman so take that with a grain of salt, but it's something right?"

Her mom had been the one to push her to ask to bumped up in that course, and Skye was already thankful for it. If she'd had to start with like, computer 101, she would die.

"Friends?"

"Dad, it's been one day," she rolled her eyes. "There's potential though. I met some really cool people. Two science-y prodigy kids who are either dating or in the deepest denial ever. And the soccer team's striker. It's a start."

She kind of wanted to laugh. Of course her mom was interested in the classes and her dad in the social scene. Really, could they be more predictable? Her parents were so _boring. _You know, once you ignored that fact that her dad worked for the White Collar department of the FBI and her mom, well, she wasn't exactly allowed to know what her mom did. Yup. Totally boring.

Skye looked down at her phone.

M: _And the verdict is?_

"Skye, put your phone away. We're having dinner!" Phil said.

S: _Undecided, but optimistic?_


	2. Idiots Make the Best Friends

By the end of Skye's first month, a group was starting to form. Skye ate lunch with Simmons, Fitz and Trip every day except Wednesday, when Fitzsimmons had robotics club and Trip went to some weird 'collector's club' or some shit. Honestly, Trip was kind of awesomely weird. Varsity athlete, yes. Big nerd? Yes. Skye loved it.

Lance Hunter some how got roped in once in a while. Or he was already part of it? Skye couldn't really tell. He was a sophomore, like Trip, British and short like Simmons but he was super annoying and yet Skye still kind of liked him?

They were the oddest group ever, really. Like, Fitz and Simmons were so _science_, and half they time they were one person, but once Skye got them apart they were almost more intimidating because of how smart they were. They finished the others' sentences and sometimes Fitz looked at Simmons like she was a dream that got loose, but Trip told Skye they weren't dating. Skye and Trip were definitely the most socially savvy of the group. Trip was a star athlete, and volunteered for all sorts of service projects. He was just popular and generally well liked, but his best friends were too adorable geeks, a cranky British kid and Skye.

She was still trying to figure out where she fit in. She got where she was in her little group of friends, but sometimes she lost her place in the school. She didn't really want to be trapped in one role.

"You guys doing anything this weekend?" Skye asked at lunch. They hadn't really hung out outside of school much. Skye didn't have a problem with that, really, but she was starting to get bored with it.

"I've got work Saturday. You all should stop by," Trip said. "And the Back To School dance is Saturday. We could all blow it off together," he suggested.

Skye traded a look with Simmons. That didn't sound too bad. "Does the dance totally suck?"

Trip nodded. "Lame as hell. Proms, Soph Hop and the Winter Semi-Formal are all good, but they just phone in the Back To School."

"Alright, let's blow it off!" Skye grinned. "Who's place do you guys normally crash?"

"Well, we used to go to Ward's house. Before he and Trip came to High school, of course. The gang split then, and now Ward's, um," Fitz paused. Skye nodded. She remembered what they told her about Ward.

"We'll just go to my house," Simmons said, settling the issue.

Skye started to get excited. Her first social plans since coming here. It only took her a month.

That was her fault though. She'd been invited to parties and stuff. The first time, she'd been walking with Trip when they were both invited. Skye was going to say yes, but was kind of shocked into silence when Trip swiftly turned his invite down.

_"What, you don't go to parties?" she'd asked._

_"No, I go. I'm just real picky about it."_

She had turned down the invite too, asking why Trip said no.

_"Kid who invited us? Justin Garner. Threw Fitz in a dumpster all year when we were fourteen. Fitz was only thirteen. And Garner keeps hitting on girls even when they say no. That shit doesn't fly with me."_

Skye was pretty sure that her dad had Trip to thank that she wasn't out at random parties every other night. That little story had made her a little more discerning.

* * *

As excited as Skye was to have plans with her friends, she was less excited about telling her dad. Would he be overly thrilled for her, or overly protective? She was just glad her mom was home to back her up.

"So the Back to School dance is tomorrow night," Skye started.

"Why didn't you tell us? That sounds fun!" Phil said.

"Well, 'cause I'm not going. I heard it sucks. My friends decided we'd all hang out together. Remember I told you about Jemma Simmons? We're going to her house," Skye said, twirling her fork in her pasta.

She saw her dad give her mom a look. Melinda didn't respond. "You sure? We haven't even met these kids, or their parents," Phil started slowly. He didn't sound adamantly against it though. That was a good sign.

"Dad-"

"Phil, she's in high school. We don't have to meet the friends anymore. And we don't have to interact with their parents anymore, thank god," Melinda said. Yeah, Melinda had hated playdates more than life itself. It was a testament to how much she loved Skye that she took her on so many when she was young.

"Alright. You can go. I trust you. Besides, I already did background checks on most of them."

"_Dad!_"

Melinda rubbed her temples.

"Maybe St. Agnes should've run background checks on you before you adopted me," Skye said.

"They wouldn't have found anything," her dad shrugged.

Skye focused on her dinner. She wasn't mad, actually. And they were letting her go, so she was actually super _happy_. Her dad started talking about his day, which meant Skye had permission to leave. She ate the last forkful of pasta out of her bowl before clearing it into the kitchen. Finally, she pulled out her phone, looking for Simmons' number.

_S: Yo. I can go tomorrow. _

_J: Wonderful! That's everyone! Trip's going to help you get here, yes?_

_S: Yup._

A night at Simmons' house. What the hell was that going to be like?

* * *

Trip worked at a coffee shop. Skye didn't know why this was such a revelation, but when she walked to the address he'd texted her, she was standing under a sign for From The Grounds Up. Ugh. Puns. She walked in anyway.

"Trip! Nice apron."

Trip was behind the counter, making fancy coffee drinks. "Hey, Skye. I'll be done in five, and we'll walk over to Simmons' place."

"It's in walking distance?"

Trip nodded, more focused on making pretty designs in foam and steamed milk than talking. Skye busied herself looking around. Miles would love this place. Seriously, he'd be dragging her here all of the time.

Trip kept his promise. Five minutes later, he was hanging up his apron. The shadows of the buildings were long in the early evening light. They started the walk to Simmons' house just whining about homework and laughing about stupid things. They quickly got onto the topic of Fitzsimmons and why it wasn't a thing. Skye wasn't going to push them. Neither was Trip.

"Oh, also, we invited Bobbi and Mack tonight," Trip said.

"I finally get to meet the infamous Bobbi. Awesome. And Mack is...?"

"He's a Junior, like Bobbi. They're pretty tight. He and Hunter are buds, too. And he's great at watching Fitz's back. Just a nice guy, for the most part. I think you'll like him."

Skye nodded. That was the sucky thing about being the new girl - she didn't know anybody. All of the names that got tossed around were lost on her. Tonight would put an end to that, hopefully. Skye realized that Trip had stopped walking like four steps ago.

"Oh."

Simmons' house was not like she imagined. The again, she wasn't sure what she had actually imagined. A small, cozy English tudor? That was not the case. This house was bigger, and very well tended. It looked like it had come out of some architectural magazine. Well, one that focused on houses that went for less than two million dollars.. Still, it was nice.

The house next door was a little bit smaller, and Fitz was coming out of it.

"Don't tell me-"

"They're next door neighbors. How do you think they met?" Trip smiled.

Fitz walked up the door with them. Simmons' pulled it open before Fitz had even finished knocking. Had she been watching? Or did she and Fitz like, call across the gap between their houses?

"Mum, Dad! They're here!" Simmons' shouted, waving everybody in. "Skye, these are my parents. Mum, Dad, this is Skye!" she smiled brightly. Simmons' parents either dressed really nicely all the time, or were going out. They both had really nice smiles, and looked just as friendly, if not more, than their daughter.

"Jemma's told us so much about you, Skye. It's a pleasure to meet you!" her mom said.

"Hello, Mr. Simmons. Dr. Simmons," Fitz greeted with a smile. They each gave him a big hug, leaving him blushing and not meeting anyone's gazes.

"You two leaving?" Simmons asked eagerly. Her parents traded looks and secretive smiles.

"Yes, yes, of course. We're just going to dinner, we'll be back in a few hours. Don't get into too much trouble, and if you need anything, call. We'll be back in a blink. Oh and Jemma, be a good host," Mr. Simmons reminded, kissing his daughter's cheek before she all but pushed him and her mom through the door.

As soon as the door closed, Fitz stopped blushing. "Are the snacks in the-"

"Basement? Yes. But-"

Simmons didn't even have time to finish before Fitz was stampeding downstairs. "Triplett..." she trailed off.

"I got it. He won't food coma himself," Trip laughed and followed Fitz downstairs.

That left Simmons and Skye. "We'll head downstairs in a minute. Let me give you a tour first," she smiled.

Skye followed Simmons around the first floor, half-listening to whatever the girl was saying. Instead of having a million pictures of their family, there was some nice art here or there. Occasionally there would be a picture of young Simmons. The girl had basically been really pretty and adorable all of her life. Everything was so comfy and tasteful. Skye's parents would love this place. Upstairs, Simmons led Skye to her bedroom. She had the corner room, so there were windows in the back, and on one side. She had a view of the backyard...and Fitz's house.

"Uh. Is that Fitz's bedroom, right across from yours?" Skye asked with a smile. Simmons nodded. "There's a tree almost in the middle." It didn't completely block the view, because it was a little bit behind the houses, but you could use it to cross between the houses, Skye was sure.

"Yes."

"You ever climb across?"

"No. I quite dislike heights. Fitz has done it a few times, but it scrapes him up," Simmons said. Skye gave her a look. "What?"

"He climbs into your bedroom."

"And?"

Skye shook her head. Simmons' really didn't get it, did she? Skye just took that as yes, Fitz has climbed into the bedroom, but no, nothing ever happened. There was an adorable picture of a young pre-teen Simmons with her mom and dad. She had some certificate in her hand. Probably for doing something brilliant. Skye was about to ask her when it was from when the doorbell rang.

"Ooh! That might be Bobbi!" Simmons said, dragging Skye towards the stairs again. "And Mack, of course. Maybe they brought Hunter, he's late."

Skye let Simmons pull her downstairs. The Brit yanked open the door, a ridiculously big grin on her face. Hunter walked in first, carrying a case of beer.

"Look what I got!"

"Oh, lovely. Take it downstairs. That's where we'll be," Simmons said. She was a lot more calm about the beer than Skye would've thought.

"Don't take credit for the beer, Hunter. Stop trying to look cool."

Hunter waved off whoever the voice belonged to and another figure emerged in the doorway. She was ridiculously tall, and very pretty. This was Bobbi Morse? Skye wasn't sure what she was expected, but it wasn't this. Trip had told her that Bobbi was Hunter's ex. Now that she could see Bobbi in person, it was way harder to believe.

"Jemma, look at you. Freshman at last," Bobbi laughed. Simmons was smiling even bigger, if possible. Fitz might've been on to something about that crush. She made Simmons look so small.

"Bobbi, it's great to see you. This is Skye. She's quite awesome. I'm sure you two will get along beautifully," Simmons said.

Bobbi smiled at Skye as she stepped into the house. "Good to meet you." She looked behind her. "Mack! Come on, stop tinkering with the car!"

There was a grunt from outside and in a second a guy, presumably Mack, appeared. He made Bobbi look normal sized.

"Whoa. Mack is very...muscly," Skye said. Bobbi laughed, resting a hand on Mack's shoulders. Simmons ushered him in, closing the door once more. Than she led them all downstairs.

The basement was all decked out. Fitz had brought over his xbox and hooked it up to the TV, there was table tennis, a foosball table and a pool table, too. Skye grabbed a cue. "Trip. Bet you ten bucks I can beat you."

Trip jumped over the couch, grabbing his own cue. "I will take that bet, and I will run with it. I'm gonna take you down."

Hunter was the first to open the case of beer, pulling out a bottle. "Pass 'em around, Hunter," Mack said, grabbing one for himself and one for Fitz.

'I'm surprised Fitz and Simmons would be drinking," Skye said, setting up the balls. Simmons made an offended noise.

"We're not tight-laced, grumpy sticks in the mud, you know. Fitz and I know how to party."

Skye smiled, taking a beer that Hunter handed her. It wasn't like they were getting black out drunk. This wasn't really a party so much as it was a chill night to avoid a horrible dance. Still, Simmons' was surprising her a lot that night. Trip tossed Mack his iPod. Once it was hooked up to the sound system, some great, chill, alt music started to play. Skye shot Trip a look. He gave a shrug.

"My boyf- my friend Miles, would like this shit. He would still complain it's too mainstream, but he'd be jamming," Skye said, lining up her shot to break. Mack, Fitz and Hunter were already on the xbox.

Trip and Skye alternated between playing their game of pool and sitting with Bobbi and Simmons. These were cool people. She liked Bobbi and Mack. Thank god she finally met them. Bobbi and Simmons were trying to mess up the boys' game. Bobbi would mock Hunter, Simmons tossed snacks at Fitz. It was ridiculous.

Skye's phone buzzed in her pocket. Miles, of course.

_M: I'm bored. What are you doing tonight?_

_S: I'm at a friend's house._

_M: You have friends?_

_S: Shut up._

Skye was smiling at her phone. She opened up the camera. "Group selfie!"

Trip was the first to join her in the photo, standing right behind her. Hunter joined her up front, cause he was so short. Simmons and Fitz were smushed together on her left, with Bobbi and Mack in the very back. Skye handed Mack the phone. One picture was all happy smiles, the other was silly faces, eyes closed. Total idiots. Everyone went back to whatever they had been doing and Skye looked at the pictures.

They were good. She didn't look at all out of place. Skye couldn't help but feel all sorts of warm and fuzzy when she looked at the picture.

She sent it to Miles.

_S: Me and the crew._

_M: Preps!_

_S: Fuck you, Lydon :P_

Skye slipped her phone away and walked back to the pool table. Trip lined up his shot as Skye nursed her second beer. Only the eight ball left. His shot was just a little too soft. The white ball was almost in the pocket, but not quite. The perfect set up for Skye. She laughed as she set up hers, sinking the ball easily as Trip pouted.

"Girl, you got so lucky."

Skye shrugged, smiling innocently. "Ten bucks, Antoine."

Their game done, they joined everyone on the couch, where they were debating what movie to watch.

"Star Wars."

Fitz, Simmons and Bobbi had all spoken at the same time.

Skye smiled to herself, squished between Simmons and Hunter. She could get used to this.

A/N: Okay so a lot of fluff I know, but who doesn't love fluff? Next chapter will really get the ball rolling with Ward :)


	3. Introducing Grant Ward

The next week at school, Mack and Bobbi joined them at the lunch table a few days. Both were busy, but every time they had a chance to be all together, they were. It was a nice feeling. When the weekend came, everybody was busy, but Skye still found time to text Fitzsimmons a few times. She had more friends now than she'd had most of her life.

This whole time, though, Skye couldn't help but notice that Grant Ward still sat alone. It had been almost a month and a half, and every day at lunch he ate alone.

"Is he okay? I mean, it's been over a month, and he's never sat with anyone else," Skye asked Simmons one day as they walked to their lunch table.

Simmons' smile vanished. "We don't know. He won't talk about it. He's still in all of his old clubs, and he's friendly when we run into him but...he doesn't say anything more than he has to," she admitted worriedly.

Skye sat down, pursing her lips. "Why don't we go sit with him?"

Fitz picked up on who they were talking about right away. "I offered to sit with him a few weeks ago. He just shook his head and smiled," Fitz said miserably

Skye let the subject drop for a while. It was obviously something that upset Fitz a lot. She couldn't help but think, though, that she could've been in Ward's situation, if Simmons and Fitz hadn't reached out to her. She owed them a lot. Trip also had her back from day one. He'd always watched over and protected her. She frowned to herself. Maybe she was part of the reason that Ward didn't make an effort to reconnect with Fitzsimmons. Maybe he thought she was taking his place.

"Skye. Are you alright?" Simmons asked.

Skye plastered on a smile, nodding. "Yeah, I'm fine. Spacing out. Sorry," she said.

* * *

Wednesday rolled around. The day everybody had clubs, except for her. Her clubs were Mondays after-school. Skye walked into the cafeteria, trying to balance her tray. Up until now, she'd managed to avoid eating alone, but she was seeing a serious lack of familiar faces. Crap. As much as Skye was not one for following the crowd, she was also not one for eating alone.

That was when she saw him.

Ward was already at his table, eating by himself, as usual. Skye took a deep breath. _What the hell. He could use a friend, and I could use one too._

She walked over to his table. "Uh, hi. I'm Skye."

He just kind of blinked up at her, wide-eyed. "Ward." His voice cracked a little. He coughed. "Grant Ward."

Skye smiled. "Yeah, I know." He nodded, looking like a deer in headlights, kind of. "Um, look, all of my friends are at clubs, and I couldn't help but notice that you eat alone-"

"By choice," he said quickly.

Skye nodded, feeling more embarrassed than she cared to admit. "Oh. Of course. I guess I'll just-"

"Wait, no. I meant, I'm not eating alone because everyone hates me or something. I wasn't- if you really have no where else to sit, I guess I can't stop you."

He gave a sigh like he was annoyed, but she couldn't tell whether or not it was genuine. So she set her tray down slowly and sat down next to him. "Thanks."

Ward had been reading, but he slid the book away. She caught a glimpse of the cover though. Was that Hunger Games? For a moment, they didn't really talk. Which was fine. She tried to read him a little. She was a little distracted by how attractive he was, but whatever. Like seriously, what was this guy, a model? He picked at his lunch, looking like he was concentrating really hard on his food. Was he trying not to look at her?

"You're super fit. Are you, like, a star athlete or something?" Skye asked.

Ward smiled for the first time, thin and nervous, but not insincere. "No. I mean, I'm goalie for the soccer team. No star athlete."

"Just soccer?"

Ward's smiled. It wasn't very big, but it was nice. "And boxing and track."

"Thought so."

Skye smiled then. He started asking her about her interests. And he actually wanted to hear about them, too. She hadn't been expecting that. She found out he was in book club - not expected - and nature club. Alright then. Totally the opposite of her in computer science and all that fun stuff. He seemed intrigued by the stuff she liked, though.

Finally, it was time to start asking the hard questions. "So you and Fitzsimmons used to be pretty tight, hm?" Skye asked.

Ward's smile dropped a little. "Yeah."

"Trip too."

"Correct, again," he said, voice tight. Skye knew she should stop, but she pushed just a little further.

"They miss you, you know. What happened?" she wondered. The smile dropped entirely, he looked away, "Sorry. Didn't mean to pry. Don't like, hate me, okay? I'm just reaching out to you, on their behalf. You should join us at lunch."

Ward seemed to take that into consideration. "Okay...I'll think about it." Skye smiled then, gathering her tray so she could go to her next class. "And about...what happened, it's probably not as big as you think. I just didn't want to drag them into anything."

Cryptic. But oddly reassuring? Skye thought. He looked horrified, like he'd already disclosed way more than he wanted to. Skye always had liked to refer to herself as human truth serum, it had just never been so literal before.

"Alright. Well, I hope you consider it, and I hope you join us tomorrow," Skye said.

* * *

He did. As surprising as it was, Ward came over the next day at lunch. Fitz and Simmons both stared up at him in total shock as he asked if he could sit, and Fitz cleared off the table for him. Trip gave him a big high five as he sat down.

"Glad to have you back, man," Trip said with a smile.

"Thank Skye. She pestered me into doing it," Ward said.

Skye lifted her hand to her chest in mock-offense. "Rude."

Ward gave a small, surprisingly shy, smile. It felt really natural, folding him into the group. Everyone seemed happy to see him, now Mack wasn't the only one who made Bobbi seem like a normal sized person, and Skye felt like she'd done her good deed for the year.

He sat with them on Friday too. Skye hadn't really had time to talk to Fitz or Simmons' about how being 'reunited' with Ward felt, but she was crashing at Simmons' house Friday night, so she'd find time.

She waited as long as she could, until it felt right. When Simmons' brought out Middle School yearbooks to show her pictures of what her, Fitz, and Ward looked like, she knew it was the right time.

"Happy to have Ward back?"

Simmons smiled, rolling her eyes like it was obvious. "Yes. Mostly for Fitz' sake, but I missed him, too," she shrugged.

Skye nodded. She'd noticed that Fitz and Ward were pretty close. Weirdly brotherly, even. Maybe weird wasn't the right word. She didn't know. Part of her, despite knowing that they had been friend, had expected to Fitz be kind of jealous of Ward? The guy was like a teenaged Greek God. But there had been no resentment for leaving, no jealousy, no bad feelings at all.

"So what happened to Ward?"

Simmons was about to answer, when something hit her window. Skye jumped. Simmons crawled out of her bed, sighing. She opened the window just in time for Skye to hear Fitz shouting 'Jemma!' from his window.

"Fitz! I told you, Skye's sleeping over tonight!" Simmons' half-shouted.

"But I got a new attachment for my telescope-"

"We'll use your telescope a different night, I promise!"

"Alright, alright. Have fun. I don't want to be a part of your girly night."

Simmons shut her window again, shaking her head. Skye couldn't help but snicker. "So...his telescope. Is that an innuendo...?"

Simmons looked horrified. "Skye! No!" she swatted her arm. "Back to _Ward_. His father is a senator, you know." Skye didn't know. "And he's got an three siblings. A younger brother and sister...and his older brother Christian. Christian's always been a bit of a bully. And his dad's stern, to say the least. Ward's mom is, um," Simmons stopped, unsure how to tread on.

"Even more strict?" Skye suggested.

Simmons did scrunched up her nose, her way of saying that Skye wasn't completely right. "I guess. And she's, well, she drinks a bit sometimes, and it doesn't end well. There were probably some big fights last year, and Ward didn't want to drag anyone into them. He's like that. He's nice but he can be closed off."

Skye pulled her knees against his chest. Poor Ward. "Could be worse."

Simmons nodded.

Skye could see that he was closed off. She was glad she got to him at all, let alone enough that he decided to hang out with his friends again. She had a solid group of people around her, now. They were not the people that she expected to be friends with, necessarily, but she liked them an awful lot.

"So if you aren't interested in...Fitz's telescope, have any of the group piqued your interest? And Bobbi and I are included in 'the group', by the way," Skye smiled, laying back in Simmons' bed. She definitely had a crush on Fitz, too, but maybe she didn't act on it because she liked someone more. Skye wasn't going to push her on the Fitz front, clearly it was a sensitive subject.

"What? No! I mean, many of our friends are well-muscled, and nice to look at, but that's all. Just looking." Simmons was surprisingly calm as she talked. Not flustered all. "And you? You seemed to flirt with Ward a little. Though for a while I thought you and Trip-"

Skye smiled. "I flirt a lot? Harmless flirting is just part of who I am I guess. I have a boyfriend-thing, though. He's actually coming up tomorrow, while my parents have a date night. So, for now, I guess I'm content to just look, too. But Miles is pretty chill. Even if the flirting wasn't harmless, I'm sure he'd be fine with it," she said with a wave of her hand.

She was excited to see Miles tomorrow. It'd been forever since she'd seen him in person. And sure, he'd tease her about hanging with preps and having gone over to the dark side, but that was part of his scruffy charm.

Preps or not, she loved her friends.


End file.
